Casting machine



H. FORD CASTING MACHINE Feb. 21, 1933.

Filed Nov. 20, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Feb. 21, 1933. H. FORD 1,898,722

CASTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 20, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 "lllllllllllnll =55 "I "if, "I

54 2 lo 33 BY A TTORNEY.

Patented Feb. 21, 1933 UNITED HENRY roe-n,

DEAJRBORN, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE CASTING MACHINE Application filed November 20. 1929. Serial No.'408,637.

The object of my invention is to provide a method of forging which consists of first casting individual forging blanks in permanent molds byv the continuous process, then transferring these blanks to a. trimming machine, and then forging the blanks in a forging press, the trimming and forging operations being accomplished with the original casting heat in the blanks. 1

A further object of my invention is to provide a machine for forming forging blanks which will operate automatically and require very little attention thereby making the individual cost of each blank relatively small.

Still a further object of my invention is to provide, incorporated in the above mentioned machine, means for regulating the weight of the forging blanks so that they weigh substantially the same as the finished forging.-

There will thus be very little loss by flash when such blanks are forged.

My machine for forming the forging blanks consists of a pair of continuous conveyor chains having chill molds secured thereon;

One of the important features of this machine is the provision for conveying the molds upmolten metal while traveling upthis'incline. Each mold is provided with an overflow spout directiy over the succeeding mold so that the liquid level in the molds will equalize regard= less of the amount of metal poured into each individual mold.

A ladle in which molten metal is conveyed from a converter, an open hearth furnace, or any other source of metal, is set up adjacent to the inclined side of the machine and then tipped so that the metal pours into the molds. A channel is formed in the rim of each mold so that the excess metal will run out through this channel and be deposited in the mold beneath. The blanks so produced are there fore uniform even though the flow of, metal from the ladleis variable.

Ordinary pig casting machines are not satisfactory for producing forging blanks because the pigs obtained therein vary too much in weight. It may readily be seen that if the weight of certain pigsare lessthan the weight of the finished forging there will not be sufficient metal to complete the forging, and also, if the weight of other pigs are far in excess of the weight of the finishedforging the loss of metal through flash is likely to oflset the gain obtained through the use of this direct forging process. A further disadvantage to the use of excessively overweight pigs occurs because the excess metal must be eX- truded from between the dies. This extruded metal forms a large portion offlash between the dies which cools very rapidly due to its thin section and sometimes is suflicient to break the forging press. The advantage of the applicants machine over the conventional pig casting machine is primarily that uniform forging blanks are obtained therewith.

l Vith these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the arrangement, construction, and combination of the various parts of my improved device, as described in the specification, claimed in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which: V

Figure 1 shows a side elevation of the forging presses and 'my improved machine for forming the forging blanks.

Figure 2 shows an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 22 of Figure 1. v Figure 3 shows a central vertical sectional view through the ladle and pouring portion of themaehine shown in Figure 1.

Figure 4 showsan enlarged view of that portion of the machine where the molds are inverted, part of the device being shown in section to better illustrate the construction. Figure 5 shows a top view of one of the molds removed from the conveyor chain, and Figure 6 shows a sectional view taken on the line 66 of Figure 5.

Referring to Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings, I have used the reference numeral 10 to designate a ladle which is used in conveying molten metal to the blank forming machine. A pair of trunnions 11 extend from the sides of the ladle so that a crane may convey the ladle to and from the furnace.

A stand 12 is provided which supports the ladle 10. Suitable ears 14 and 15 extend from the ladle which co-act with sockets 13 and 1 6, respectively,formed in the stand 12.

A screw 54. co-acts with a projection on the ladle so that the operator may raise the ladle around the ears 1A by raising the screw. When the ladle is so raised the metal therein flows from a spout adjacent to the ears 14. If it is desired, the ladle 10 and stand 12 may be substituted by a tilting furnace, or the ladle 10 may be so arranged that it can be charged without being removed from the device.

Referring now to the continuous mold conveyor, a head member 17 forms the front portion of the machine and is provided with an inclined track 56 thereon adjacent to the ladle 10. A pair of sprockets 18 are secured to a shaft 19 and the latter is rotatably mounted in the lower forward part of the head member 17. A second pair of sprockets 20 are secured in 'a like manner to a shaft 21, this shaft being rotatably mounted in the upper part of the member 17 and to the rear of the shaft 19. The track 56 extends in a tangential path between these pairs of sprockets.

A pair of horizontal conveyor tracks consisting of an upper track 22 and a lower track 23 extend rearwardly from the head member 17 to a rear support 24. A number of trestles 25 support the intermediate portions of the tracks 22 and 23.

A pair of driving sprockets, not shown in the drawings. are secured to a shaft 26 rotatablymounted in the rear support 24 and are driven through a suitable gear reduction by an electric motor 27. A pair of conveyor chains 28 extend around the three pairs of sprockets, the upper track 22 and the lower track 23 being used for drawing and returning the conveyor chain, respectively.

Each alternate link of the chains 28 is provided with a bearing 29 having a removable cap 30 pivotally mounted thereon. A chill mold 32, illustrated in Figures 5 and 6, is provided with a pair of trunnions 31 extending from each side thereof which are rotatably mounted in each pair of bearings 29 in the conveyor chains 28. Each mold has aconical depression 57 therein and a channel 33 forms an overflow outlet for these depressions so that any excess metal may flow through this channel and be deposited in the mold beneath. A vertically extending apron 3% is provided on the molds to direct the flow of metal.

A typical cross-section through the upper track 22 is shown by Figure 2. A pair of longitudinally extending channels 35 connect the upper end of the trestles 25. Cross members 36 are secured between tile individual uprights of the trestles and a pair of longion the upper edges of the channels 22 to support the molds and the conveyor chains. To provide additional rigidity angles 58 tie the tops of the trestles 25 together and a plurality of tie bars 38 extend between these angles. A pair of longitudinally extending guide bars 39 are slung from beneath the lower face of the bars 38 and co-act with the top faces of the molds 32 to insure that these molds remain in a, vertical position while traveling along the upper track 22.

The lower track'23 is supported on the trestles in a similar manner. Aportion of this track adjacent to the head 17 is omitted so that the conveyor chain hangs between the end of this track'and the head 17. A pair of guide flanges 59 extending from the head 17 arearranged to elevate the forward end of this slack portion. lVhen'the device is first assembled the conveyor chain is drawn tightly around the three sprockets described. After the device has been in operation for a short time the molds heat up which heats the conveyor chains adjacent thereto. The expansion of the conveyor chain due to its temperature istaken up by slack developing in the chains between the end of the lower track 23 and the flanges 59. I

Preheating gas burners are placed beneath the slack portion of the conveyor chains and molds so that the molds may be heated prior to pouring the metal, thereby preventing premature solidifying of the forging blanks.

Means are shown in Figure A for inverting the molds and removing the forging blanks therefrom during their travel along the upper track 22. It has been previously mentioned that durin the ma'or portion of the travel along the track 22 the molds are held in a vertical position by means of the guide bars 39. As soon as the castings in these molds solidify, it is desirable to remove them from the molds so that they may be quickly conveyed to the trimming and forging presses. The following means are therefore provided for inverting the molds and for knocking out the blanks as soon as they become solid. A bar 40 extends between the channels of the tract 22 in position to strike against the lower portion of each mold. As the molds pass over this bar they are rotated through approximately degrees to a position -where their upper flat faces strike against the ends of the stationary guide bars 41. A further movement of the conveyor chain completely inverts the molds, so that t ieir upper fiat faces. slide on these bars in an inverted position. The weight of the molds is thus removed from the rollers 37 so that the molds maybe rapped to remove the forging blank therefrom without danger of cracking the rollers.

Knockout means are provided for rapping the bottom of these molds. A beam 42 is pivotally secured in a frame member 43 by means of a pivot pin 44. The frame 43 straddles the angles 58 to which it is secured. One end of the beam 4&2 is provided with a forked end 4:5 which straddles a cushioning device 46 to which it is pivotally secured at 4.7. A transverse shaft 48 is rotatably mounted in suitable bearings in the frame member as and is rotated by means of an electric motor not shown in the drawings. The shaft 48 is provided with an eccentric 49 which co-acts with a suitable bearing 50 secured to the upper end of the cushioning device. When the shaft 48 is rotated the beam l2 rapidly oscillates around the pin all. The molds passing beneath the outer end of the beam are rapped so that the forging blanks become loosened and fall from the molds. The cushionin device st-6 allows for variations in the size or the molds.

A hopper 51 is placed beneath the bars ll so that as the forging blanks are knocked out of the molds they will fall into this hopper and from there be conveyed to a trough 52 from which they drop onto a second conveyor 58. The conveyor 53 quickly conveys the blanks adjacent to the various trimming and forging presses so that very little of the original forging heat is lost before the blanks are actually forged. V V

I have shown a series of trimming and forging presses (50 adjacent to the conveyor 53 so that the operators of these machines may conveniently pick up the hot blanks and trim and forge them before they cool below the forging temperature.

To operate the device the mold conveyor is set in operation and the burners 55 started. When the molds have attained fairly high temperature the pouring is commenced. The ladle 10 is deposited on the stand 12 by means of an overhead crane. The rear end of the ladle is then raised by means of the screw 5% around the pivot 1 1 so that the molten metal therein flows into the molds 32 passing adj acent to the ladle spout. As each mold is filled to overflowing the surplus metal runs through the channels 33 into the mold beneath thereby keeping a uniform size of forging blanks and also preventing waste of metal. The primary function of this device is to prevent the uneven flow of metal which usually results when it is continuouslypoured from a ladle from afiecting the size of the forging blanks so produced.

After the molds are filled they pass upwardly and over the sprockets 20 and along the track 22. lVhen they are adjacent to the knockout devlce the molds are inverted, as has previously been described, and the blanks are knocked out by means of this device. The molds then are conveyed further where they are sprayed with a lime solution and then returned along the lower track 23 to the sprocket 18. The forging blanks are deposited on a conveyor 53 whichbr-ings them adja- The sprue which is normallyv lodged in the channel 38 is removed by the trimming operation. After the blanks emerge from this trimming operation they are immediately placed in the forging press and forged to the desired shape.

Among the many advantages arising from the use of my improved device it may be well to mention that forging blanks are obtained at only a fraction of the costof the conventional rolling mill process. Further, the

cent to the trimming and forging presses.

original casting heat is utilized for forging v the blanks so that a great saving is obtained from this source also. Further forging blanks of a uniform size are-obtained; the size being ust sufiicient to make the forging without leaving flash which might do serious damage to the dies. Some changes may be 7 made in the arrangement,construction, and

combination of the .variousp'arts of my. ime proved device without departing from the spirit of my invention and it is my intention to cover by my claims such changes as may reasonably be included within the .scope thereof.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a casting machine of the class described, a framework'comprising a horizontaltrack, a continuous conveyor chain supported by said framework and track having a plurality of molds rotatably mounted thereon each mold of which is normally carried by said chain in an upright position, a

mold-inverting device mounted upon said framework, whereby movement of the molds against said device causes the molds to be quickly inverted, and a bar supported by said framework in position substantially parallel to said track adapted to coact with the underfaces'of said'molds when inverted and support same independently of the conveyor chain, whereby the molds when in said in- I verted position may be rappedto remove the contents thereof without stressing their connections with saidco-nveyor chain.

2. A device, as claimed in claim 1, wherein said mold-inverting device is rigidly secured to said framework in position just beneath the path traveled by the mold trunnions and close enough thereto to coact successively with the lower portions of each mold thereby inverting same 3. A device, as claimed in claim 1, wherein said bar coacts with a portion of each mold intermediate of its trunnions.

4. A device, as claimed in claim 1, wherein said conveyor comprises a pair of laterally spaced chains and wherein said bar comprises a pair of parallel strips for supporting the inverted molds, each strip coacting with the underfaces of the molds at a point between the mold casting and one of the mold trunmons.

5. A device, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the leading end of said bar assists in inverting the molds.

6; In a. casting machine of the class described, a framework comprising a horizontal track, a continuous conveyor chain supported by said framework and track having a plurality of molds rotatably mounted there on, rollers rotatably mounted on the trunnion of each mold adapted to roll upon said track and normally support both the mold and the adjacent portion of the conveyor chain, a mold-inverting device mounted upon said framework in the path of said molds whereby movement of the molds against said device causes the molds to be quickly inverted, and a bar supported by said framework in position substantially parallel to said track adapted'to coact with the underfaces of said molds when inverted and support same independently of said rollers, whereby the molds when inverted may be rapped to remove the contents thereof without danger of cracking said rollers.

7 A device, as claimed in claim 6, wherein said rollers are formed as chilled castings.

8, A device, as claimed in claim 6, wherein each mold is constructed with its center of gravity spaced beneath its axis when in an upright position to thereby return said molds to their upright positions after they are conveyed past said bar members.

9. A device, as claimed in claim 6, wherein said conveyor comprises a pair of laterally spaced chains and wherein said bar comprises a pair of parallel strips for supporting the inverted molds, each strip coacting with the underfaces of the molds at a point between the mold casting and one of the mold trunnions.

. 10. A device, as claimed in claim 6, wherein the leading end of said bar assists in inverting the molds.

Signed at Dearborn, in the county of 9 Wayne, State of Michigan, this 13th day of November, 1929.

V HENRY FORD. 

